An Indian-origin doctor has been accused of performing genital cutting on two 7-year-old girls at a medical clinic.
According to the Department of Justice this is the first case brought under a federal law that criminalizes the practice, as it is widely condemned as both harmful to the physical and mental health of women and girls and a human rights violation.
Dr. Jumana Nagarwala was arrested on Wednesday on charges of performing genital cutting at an unnamed medical clinic in Livonia. She has been also charged for transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and making false statements to a federal officer.
According to the criminal complaint, the 44-year-old doctor performed the procedure on two girls from Minnesota, who travelled to the clinic with their parents in February. It is believed that multiple other girls, including some from Michigan, may have been victimized between 2005 and 2007.
According to court documents, the first girl to federal agents that she underwent a procedure “to get the germs out” of her, and she identified Dr. Nagarwala in a photograph as the doctor, who performed operation on her.
In a medical examination it was found that the girl’s “labia minora” has been altered or removed, and her clitoral hood is also abnormal in appearance.
The second victim, who described her ordeal in the complaint said that she screamed as the doctor gave her a “shot” that “hurt really bad.” The victim said that she could “barely walk” after the operation and that her parents “told her that the procedure is a secret and that she is not supposed to talk about it”.
Female Genital Mutilation is practiced in several countries around the world, most commonly in Africa, also in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America. The practice is not restricted to members of a single faith. According to the U.N. Population Fund, FGM is practiced by some Muslim groups, some Christians, Ethiopian Jews and followers of certain traditional African religious. The U.N. views the practice in cultural perspective, rather than a religious one.
FGM has been illegal in the U.S. since 1996. But that law was amended in 2013 to outlaw what is sometimes referred to as “vacation cutting,” or transporting a girl overseas to carry out the procedure.
Nagarwala told a federal officer that she never performed genital mutilation on any minor and that she was not involved in any procedures. She made an initial appearance on Thursday at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
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